In order to rank high on search engine result pages, you must first ensure that your site contains the best content possible. Google ranks websites based on several factors, but two of the most important are freshness and sustained relevance. People tend to click through to a high-quality website when they see it listed among the top results. Read on for a few other tips to improve your site’s SEO. The 10 Most Important SEO Tips You Need to Know

Remove Anything that Slows Down Your Site

Using too many plugins can slow down your site. They can interfere with caching of your site pages and create other problems. A plugin called Proxy Cache Purge can help you identify which plugins are causing problems and remove them. Other causes of slow site speed are network congestion, bandwidth throttling, data discrimination, and content filtering. This article will give you some tips on how to speed up your site.

The first step is to examine the scripts on your site. Scripts are called upon by your browser when you load a web page. You want to ensure that this queue is empty before your web page appears. If there are a large number of scripts, your page will take longer to load. These scripts are called render-blocking JavaScript or CSS files. Google recommends that you remove them, or use PageSpeed Insights to identify which scripts are slowing your site down.

Link to Other Websites with Relevant Content

When you’re linking to other websites with relevant content, be sure to use anchor text that is specific and related to the page you’re linking to. Too general anchor text can hurt your SEO, and your link should be specific and relevant. Using a content checker to find out if your anchor text is spammy or not is a good idea. The BiQ SEO Suite can help you check your on-page SEO and check your anchor text.

Another way to link to other websites with relevant content is to build relationships. For instance, if you’re writing about siding, you can check Google Search Console to see how many other websites are linked to your site. Adding links from external sites to your site will improve your SEO ranking, and your siding company’s SEO manager may notice an increase in traffic from the site. You can also establish a mutually beneficial relationship by linking to their site. If the site you’re linking to shares the same content as yours, that’s another sign of a good relationship.

Write for Humans First- Search Engines Second

The old adage “write for humans first, search engines second” is no longer relevant, nor is it applicable for your articles. Google’s algorithm is becoming smarter each day, and no loophole exists to beat it. Your goal should be to provide your audience with what they want. If it takes five seconds for a page to load, you are likely to lose 7% of visitors. You can reduce page load time by using these simple tips.

Encourage Other Trustworthy Sites to Link to You

To encourage other trusting websites to link to your website, give them something of value that is relevant to your industry. Links from local nonprofits and industry specific websites are helpful to search engines and can be highly relevant. It is also helpful to give back to the community, since nonprofits and local businesses often want to return the favor and include you on their web pages. Give testimonials to other websites and products in the industry; reviews of related products and services are relevant to your industry and can be linked to from your own website.

You can also try guest blogging, which is another way to encourage other trusting websites to link to your site. The advantage of guest blogging is that the site is free and has no content restrictions. You can submit an article or guest post, which includes a link back to your site. The guest blogger will then promote your site and link to you at the end of the post. In this way, your link will be more relevant to the content of the other site.

Have Web Analytics in Place at the Start

A good Continuous Improvement Program will track key performance indicators (KPIs), including average page time, redirection time, and bounce rate. The change in these metrics will reflect in the bottom line and website performance. To have a better understanding of web analytics, consider the Customer Life Cycle framework. Using the customer life cycle framework, you can set goals, experiment with different tactics, and measure your progress over time.

A web analytics report will also provide you with valuable information about which links are most helpful and which are harmful to your website. This will allow you to avoid spammy links that will harm your website and ultimately cause it to be deindexed. Keeping track of organic traffic is an essential SEO strategy that will give you the insight you need to know how to improve. By having web analytics reports in place at the start of SEO, you can optimize your website for increased organic traffic and minimize potential problems that may arise from bad links.

Write Unique and Relevant Meta Descriptions

When writing a meta description, try to make it as simple as possible. It should answer the question a potential customer may have when they’re searching for your site. But don’t go too far outside of that line; this can confuse readers and cause your website to appear on the third page of search results. The meta description must be relevant to the title tag and focus keywords, otherwise, it won’t get the desired click-through rate.

In addition to including keywords, meta descriptions should also be written with a human-like tone. It should be written in a way that the end user can understand, rather than a computer. Using natural language is more effective than using jargon and abbreviations, as human beings tend to understand language better than the computers. So, instead of trying to impress the search engines, write with the end user in mind.

Use a Simple – Readable URL Structure

Google has become smarter, and it’s becoming increasingly important to create a URL structure that will appeal to both humans and search engines. While it’s important to incorporate keywords into your URL, they’re only useful if they’re related to the content of the page. Using a domain or subdomain with readable URLs is an excellent way to increase your link building efforts. Additionally, readable URLs increase click-through rates and targeted traffic.

When creating URL structures for your website, keep in mind that simplicity is best. Keep categories and subcategories separated by slashes to make the URLs logical. Use UTF-8 encoding, and geotarget URLs if you’re targeting a multi-regional site. Use hyphens in your URLs instead of underscores to help users identify concepts. Hyphens are also preferred by search engines.

As a rule of thumb, URLs should not contain stop words or function words. This can make the URL seem spammy and search engines penalise sites that overdo keywords. Instead, stick to just one or two target keywords, such as “website” or “e-commerce store.” Shorter URLs are also more readable, as a study by Backlinko showed.

Build Momentum with Social Signals

Building momentum with social signals is a powerful SEO tactic. While search engine algorithms change frequently, social signals continue to influence rankings. Create shareable content, include share buttons, mention social media influencers, and stay consistent with your content creation. The more people talk about your content, the more social signals you will build. Increasing social signals is one of the most important SEO tactics for 2020. Learn how to get the most out of them and see results.

Social signals are a form of citation that reflects a page’s social activity. These signals, much like backlinks, influence a page’s organic search ranking. The best way to take advantage of these signals is to implement a social media strategy across all channels. Build a consistent social media strategy that promotes high-value products, sales, and campaigns. This will make your content appear higher in search results.